ABOUT US
BIJAC endeavors to cherish the heritage and to share the history, custom and values of the Issei (first-generation Japanese) who came to the United States, and particularly to Bainbridge Island, to make a new life for their children. By recording our history and culture, and providing an outreach educational program, our organization strives to promote better understanding and an appreciation of the diverseness of the United States.
Many of you are familiar with us, and have taken part in and contributed to our activities, and we have welcomed and appreciated your interest. Others have not had a chance to do so, or have only recently moved to Bainbridge and wish to participate. Membership is free, and we look forward to seeing you at our next MEETING (1st Wednesday each month).
THE INTERNMENT
"On March 30, 1942, 227 Bainbridge Island residents were the first Japanese Americans in United States history to be forcibly removed from their homes by the U.S. Army and sent to internment camps. They boarded the ferry Kehloken from the former Eagledale Ferry Dock, located at the end of Taylor Avenue, in the city of Bainbridge Island, Washington State. The city of Bainbridge Island has adopted a resolution stating that this site should be a National Memorial, and similar resolutions have been introduced in the Washington State Legislature."
That statement, quoted in whole from a bill called the "Bainbridge Island Japanese-American Memorial Study Act of 2002," presented by Representative Jay Inslee and others, passed by both houses of Congress and signed by President George W. Bush, can serve as a brief introduction to the story of the Internment as it relates to Japanese American and, indeed, all residents of Bainbridge Island.
Throughout this website, in particular in those parts about the Memorial that BIJAC is sponsoring at the Eagledale site, you will find much more detail about the events leading up to, and following, that fateful day.
Photographs related to the Internment are here.
We also recommend that you visit some of the websites listed on our LINKS page... and other stuff......
—Nidoto Nai Yoni—Let It Not Happen Again
OFFICERS & COMMITTEE CHAIRS
President: Dr. Frank KitamotoVice President: Ron Nakata (Chairman, Walt and Milly Woodward Fund Committee)
Treasurer: Tatsuo Moritani
Secretary: Joyce Nishimura
Trustees: Gerald Nakata,
Junkoh Harui,
Noboru Koura,
Clarence Moriwaki (Chairman, "Nidoto Nai Yoni" Exclusion Memorial Committee),
Michiko Tsukada,
Hisa Matsudaira,
Florence Koura
CONTACT US
Mailing:
BIJAC c/o Dr. Frank Kitamoto, DDS, 1298 Grow Avenue NW Bainbridge Island, WA 98110Telephone/Fax:
(206) 842-4772 / 842-6666Email: WEBMASTER
The strawberry reminds us of the Japanese Americans who introduced them to Bainbridge and made them the island's most famous, and prosperous agricultural export.